The Political Campaigning Handbook

Jacket text for The Political Campaigning Handbook

Not for nothing are elections called campaigns. At every stage there is a direct analogy with the military equivalent and the language and vocabulary are often identical.

A general election campaign, like a military campaign, is usually planned in advance in the minutest detail. This planning is captured in a tome known, yes, you guessed it - as the War Book. The campaign is conducted in one giant open room known as the War Room. Party strategists discuss the danger of being outflanked on the left - or the right. And much of the talk is of making ground against the opposition.

From the top-down of the political party campaign machine, Lionel Zetter, a veteran of many a campaign, describes the steps necessary to win those all-important seats. Whether you are fighting for parliamentary, local or council positions, every stage of the combat is described; from the bureaucracy surrounding the selection process, to the timetable that must be followed to keep your application on track, and cunning tactics to fill up both the coffers of the war chest and the lists of constituents who pledge their vote.

Every general wants the best people in his army. The Handbook describes the team that you need to build around you and how to draw from their strengths and the time they have available for your cause. Zetter discusses the running of a successful War Room which is vital for communications to the front line during canvassing and especially for the last few hours where as many voters as possible are urged to mark that box, preferably next to your party!

Getting your name known is also vital. The local press can be used to your own advantage to spread your views and show your motivation to represent the area. Zetter highlights the importance of the campaign poster and the simple rosette; both a must for your kit bag.

The personal tips learned from hard years of campaigning and tramping the trails are invaluable. What do you do if a dog bites your hand as you put a leaflet through the door? How do you get rained soaked flyers through letterboxes with draught excluders in them? And as for the constituent who opened the door in nothing but a towel ? what then? Just a few of the situations that Zetter has had to contend with, and that can face any intrepid campaigner.

For all the planning and all of the optimism that goes in to election campaigns, it is very rare for a surgical strike or a Blitzkrieg to succeed. Most election campaigns end up like the Somme, with mud and blood all over the place, and nobody fully knowing what they or the enemy re doing in the thick fog of war.

This book provides the reader with an expert guide through this dangerous warzone to lead them to election victory, it is an essential part of any campaigner's armory.

Chapter headings for The Political Campaigning Handbook

Preface
Introduction

Part One - Air War
Introduction
Phoney War
Skirmishes
Assassination
Headquarters
Fundraising
The Key Battleground
Conclusion

Part Two - Ground War
Introduction
Getting Selected
Intelligence Gathering And Reconnaissance
Selection Processes
Council elections
Getting Started
Local Communication
Election Timetable
Election Expenses
Donations
Eligibility
Uniform - What To Wear
Equipment - What You Will Need
Leafleting
Other Methods Of Voting
Electoral Address
Canvassing
Campaigning
Hustings Meetings
Distraction Campaigns
Target Wards
Polling Day
Rolling Knock - Asymmetric Warfare
The Count
Conclusion

Appendices
Index

About Lionel Zetter

Lionel Zetter founded his own company, Parliamentary Monitoring Services Ltd, in 1984, before selling it to Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd in 2006. In 2007 he became Dods' non-executive Deputy Chairman. He is a member of the National Union of Journalists, and a member (and former Chairman) of the Government Affairs Group. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (and its President in 2007) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. The author has been involved in every election campaign (general, local, European and GLA) since 1979. He has also helped out in many of the by-elections since that date. He has been an Association Chairman, and a general election agent. He has also stood for the GLA and the Westminster Parliament.

More about Lionel Zetter

Reviews for The Political Campaigning Handbook

"I was won over before I even got past the acknowledgements page by Lionel's self-deprecating anecdote about being cheered by Labour supporters for having been chair of the Enfield Southgate Tories at the time of Michael Portillo's famous drubbing by Stephen Twigg.

The book is sensibly structured, using the US terms 'air war' (i.e. strategy, planning, media) and 'ground war' (tactics, grassroots campaigning). Zetter treads a careful line between providing enough interesting material to make his book of interest to election veterans, without giving away any of the inner secrets of the Tory agents' training school.

Overall, I would recommend that those PA practitioners who join the profession without grassroots political experience (there are a few) read it as a crash-course in what happens in elections. For those of you with election junkies in the family, this is cheap enough to make a great Christmas stocking filler. It's short enough for even the busiest consultant or campaigner to read in one or two sittings (maybe on the train to a by-election or a hustings meeting?).

Personally, I'll be making this compulsory reading for any candidates that I am agent for. If they win, they can thank Mr Zetter, former chairman of the Enfield Southgate Tories, in their acceptance speeches."

- Luke Akehurst, director of Weber Shandwick in Public Affairs News